Sixties
Citypresents
a wide-ranging series of
articles on all aspects of the Sixties, penned by the creator of the iconic
60s music paper Mersey
Beat

‘Hair’
was a controversial musical that was so successful it was seen by 22 million
people. The book and lyrics were by American writers Gerome Ragni and James
Rado, with music by Galt MacDermot, who created a production with an anti-Vietnam
War theme spiritedly performed by a cast of young actors and actresses,
singing, dancing, and sometimes cavorting in the nude and uttering four
- letter words.

The plot revolves around the adventures of a young America draftee when
he meets up with a group of flower children, dramatically exposing the lack
of communication between the generations of the day and touching on politics,
religion and sex.
The rock musical show originally made its debut at a small off-Broadway
venue, Joseph Papp’s Public Theatre, in Greenwich Village and was directed
by Tom O’Horgan and produced by Michael Butler. It was executive producer
Bertrand Castelli who hired young Californian actress Diane Keaton for the
part of Parent. The show was transferred to the Cheetah, another small theatre
and then opened at the Biltmore Theatre on Broadway on 29th April 1968.
It became an immediate success and the media promoted the cast (or ‘tribe’
as they sometimes called themselves) on television, radio and in magazines.

Noted photographer Richard Avedon took shots of the cast for Vogue. The
musical features a famous nude scene, but Diane was the only member of the
cast who refused to take her clothes off. The scene was actually optional
for the cast and the tribe members who appeared in the nude were paid an
extra fifty dollars. Six months after the show opened on Broadway, the female
star Lynn Kellogg left, and in October 1968 Diane took over the lead of
Sheila. When ‘Hair’ opened on Broadway in April 1968 the critic Alan Brien
wrote, “This is a show which could not conceivably be presented on any British
stage".

He was wrong. It opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre, London on 28th September
1968, one day after the Lord Chamberlain’s office was abolished. The Shaftesbury
Theatre production was the longest-lasting ‘Hair’ production anywhere in
the world and only ended in June 1974 because the roof of the theatre fell
in! Zsa Zsa Gabor and the Duke of Bedford danced on stage with the first
night cast, while the 18-year-old Princess Anne went to view the musical
twice and also joined the dancers on stage in the finale.

The original London cast featured Paul Nicholas as Claude, Vince Edward
as Vince, Oliver Tobias as Berger, Peter Straker as Hud, Annabel Leventon
as Sheila, Marsha Hunt as Dionne and Sonja Kristina as Crissy. Other performers
of note who appeared in the London production were Tim Curry and Elaine
Paige, although Elaine was sacked from the show in 1970 for taking time
off. A soundtrack recording of the London show entered the charts on four
different occasions, reaching its highest position at No. 3 in April 1969.

Various productions were staged in several countries around the world, including
France and Israel, although the film version of the hit Sixties musical
wasn’t produced until 1979. Directed by Milos Foreman, with choreography
by Twyla Tharp, it featured Treat Williams, John Savage, Beverly D’Angelo
and Annie Golden. The writers updated the musical and it was revived in
1989 as ‘Hair – The Next Generation’, but it failed to repeat the success
of the original.

Bill
Harryattended
the Liverpool College of Art with Stuart Sutcliffe and John Lennon and made
the arrangements for Brian Epstein to visit The Cavern, where he saw The
Beatles for the first time. Bill was a member of 'The Dissenters' and the
founder and editor of 'Mersey Beat', the iconic weekly music newspaper
that documented the early Sixties music scene in the Liverpool area and
is possibly best known for being the first periodical to feature a local
band called 'The Beatles'. He has worked as a high powered publicist, doing
PR for acts such as Suzi Quatro, Free, The Arrows and Hot Chocolate and
has managed press campaigns for record labels such as CBS, EMI, Polydor.
Bill is the critically acclaimed author of a large number of books about
The Beatles and the 60s era including 'The Beatles Who's Who', 'The Best
Years of the Beatles' and the Fab Four's 'Encyclopedia' series. He has appeared
on 'Good Morning America' and has received a Gold Award from the British
Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors.